mw3 motorsports

Jim McKendree

As far as Jim can remember he has loved racing in one form or another. He has followed F1, IRL, Le Mans and NASCAR for quite sometime while always dreaming what it would be like to drive these cars. Unfortunately the town he grew up in didn’t have any auto racing outlets to get started, until he moved to Denver, CO.

Upon moving to Colorado and completing school he decided to try Karting and instantly he was addicted. After renting TAG karts a bunch of times he realized they were really expensive to get a small amount of track time, he then made the decision to look for a shifter kart and really get into racing. Right before he was going to purchase his shifter kart he got the best news of his life, he was going to be a daddy. So his racing would be put on hold for awhile.

Feeling a little more secure with work and life (and with permission from his wife), he decided to look into buying an affordable performance car in the hopes of slowly turning it into a race car and competing. In 2008, after looking for a year, he bought an Evo IX and now is more addicted to driving than ever. Jim is currently competing in Time Trials in A class and is also an HPDE instructor for NASA.

Christina Werley

Christina’s love of getting behind the wheel has been unfailing since the day her dad steeled himself and taught her how to drive. He did not realize all that she had absorbed during the countless weekends watching NASCAR and Formula 1 with him. He could not have known she was curious what 100 mph feels like. Or that she would try – and succeed! – in her 1978 Corolla (in retrospect, a stupid thing to have done). Even after that harrowing experience, Christina continued to enjoy motoring her mostly FWD, mostly Japanese cars wherever she went.

Up until 2006, she had no idea what 50/50 weight distribution meant, only that bimmers were for snobs. And then Jeff said, “Just drive one.” One test drive up Waterton Canyon in a 330xi with a sales guy (who had no idea what he was in for) planted the seed that bimmers aren’t just for snobs. They’re for people like her. Who love to drive. The day she turned 31, Christina leased her first BMW.  She and Jeff married 4 days later in Crested Butte – after savoring every curve Monarch Pass had to offer.

And then there was icing. Jeff signed Christina up for BMW CCA. There were clubs for people like her! People who love to drive the twisties and see what their cars can do. Just as the lease

for the 330xi coming due, a 2008 M3 practically fell into her lap. It just so happened that BMW CCA was sponsoring driving school in Pueblo two weeks later… what better way to learn the Proper way to drive this beast of a car! The thrilling rush of that one day has deepened into a mild obsession – how to be a better, smarter, faster driver at the track is her quest. One she’s happy to share with her husband Jeff and friend Jim.

Jeff Werley

Racing started at age 13 when he was doubling jumps on a BMX track and bunny hopping trash cans. Not too long after that he was tracking his first dirt bike (KX80) and realized, for him, this was way more fun than BMX!

Fast forward a few years, a few bikes (KX 125, CR 250) and a few broken bones later, the dirt turned into street with a purchase of a ZX7. Promptly after purchasing and with a little arm twisting from best friend Kipp, the Kawi turned into a ZX7 with a 900 race motor from Jordan Engineering out of SoCal. What a set up for Willow Springs! Jeff club raced a few times and confirmed his DNA was laced with the excitement and adrenaline of racing.

After moving to Colorado in 1999 he was having a great ride until a deer jumped out of some bushes while  traveling 85mph. Whaammo – the deer and bike were gonners…broken pinky for Jeff – THANK GOD, he knew you should only ride with the proper gear!

Street then turned back into dirt on a race prepped CRF450R. As they say in racing, if you’re not crashing, you’re not racing…or something like that. Well, the racing and crashin’ happened and after his beautiful wife nursed broken ribs, punctured lung and dislocated shoulder back into shape, then he finally hung up the two wheels for good.

This begs the question, bikes his whole life – how did he get into cars? Well he played crew chief and car trailer hauler for his MW3Motorsports partners and after a year he finally said screw it – let’s find an E-36 he can build and track. So the search began and after 6 months of looking, she’s now here, prepped, and ready to have some fun! Big Jeff is competing in C class in NASA Time Trials for 2010 in the MW3 E36 M3.